


Just Like a Work of Art

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Art, Fluff, Kinda, M/M, Pining, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Writing, it's weird i know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 23:39:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14147151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Race/Spot Soulmate AU in which the last thing your soulmate created (art, writing, etc.) appears in a tattoo on their skin. They change every time your soulmate makes something new.





	Just Like a Work of Art

**Author's Note:**

> I've never done a soulmate AU before, so I don't really know if this is ant good or not. Please let me know!
> 
> Here goes nothing:

Race awoke one Saturday morning and practically dashed to the mirror to look over his skin. 

He had fallen asleep the night before, desperately trying to stay awake and watch the ink sprawl across his body. 

His soulmate, whoever it was, had two creative interests: Writing and building.

Last night, he had been writing stories, and Race had fought his exhaustion to watch him work. 

Today, when Race looked over himself, he discovered that the writing was _everywhere_. It sprawled across his ribs and chest, branching out to cover his back almost completely and run halfway down his arms. It was beautiful, no doubt. 

In his soulmate’s messy handwriting, thousands of words of work that had taken him hours to complete. 

Race rushed to get ready, an energized jump in his step the whole way to campus.

When he arrived in his first class, he looked down at himself to see the beautiful ink crisscrossing his body was fading right before his eyes, and he sighed. This happened every day, but it didn’t change how much he loved the feeling of knowing his soulmate was out there, alive, breathing. 

And when all of the tattoos were gone, a simple word appeared on his skin.

_hi._ Race almost choked in excitement. He had never been brave enough to initiate conversation, but now that he had an opportunity he was going to take it. 

_Hey! How’re you?_ He wrote on a piece of paper, worrying that he had done something wrong until more writing appeared on his wrist.

_Bored as hell. Hate lectures._ Race’s soulmate responded. He nearly jumped out of his seat with excitement. This was the most interaction he had ever had with the mystery man he longed so much to meet. 

_saaaaame_. Race wrote. His heart thumped wildly against his chest. He waited for a response, but it seemed to take forever. If he could see himself, he would have noticed the lecture notes making themselves known on his neck and collar bones.

After almost half the lecture of taking notes, Race noticed the writing reappear on his wrist.

_Sorry I disappeared. I’ve got a lot of notes to take in this class. Abnormal psych._ Race smiled and looked at the note against his skin. This was the first real information he had gotten about his soulmate. He was going to school for psychology. It was a start.

_Oh my god I’m so sorry._ Race chuckled when a small doodle of a middle finger came into view in the crook of his elbow.

_I gotta get back to notes or I’m gonna get behind. Talk later?”_ Race was ecstatic. He scribbled out a quick affirmation and returned to his work.

~~~~

Hours later, Race sat at his desk, sketching in careful concentration. The piece he needed for his realism project didn’t feel right. He had everything just fine technically, but the face on his page lacked emotion. It didn’t feel like a person.

Race desperately added some shading and worked on the eyes in hopes that it would add the feeling he needed. 

Suddenly, ink arose on his arm.

_You’re an amazing artist :)_ , it read. Race stopped drawing immediately to write.

He wrote frantically, trying to fix his piece as soon as humanly possible. There was no way he was going to let his soulmate see his art like this and think it was as good as it got.

More words. _no no no it’s beautiful. Don’t stop drawing, I love seeing it._ Race was going to die of happiness. It was going to happen.

_thank you so much_ He wrote back, getting the portrait as close as it would get before he gave up and closed the sketchbook. 

Race’s soulmate never responded, so he went to sleep.

~~~~~

The next day, Race had two classes back to back. His first was realism, where he turned in the drawing with a lump in his throat. The next was Statistics II, a class that, in retrospect, he should have opted out of. It was hard.

Race sat down and zoned out, not listening to the teacher checking their review, instead turning to doodle. Another note on his skin.

_Nice turtle. What class r you in?_

_Thanks. Stats II._

_Omg._

_What?_

_Nevermind don’t worry about it._

Race furrowed his brows in confusion but didn’t say anything more, opting to get back to his math class.

After class, Race quickly packed his stuff up and threw it in his bag, sketchbook balanced haphazardly on top of his bag. 

He was getting out just fine in the busy hall until somebody accidentally bumped into him, throwing him to the ground and scattering his papers in every direction.

The kid who bumped him kept walking without saying a word, and Race began to frantically gather his papers, cursing under his breath.

Suddenly, another boy rushed over to help pick up his things, pulling papers from across the floor back over. Other students walked around them to give some room.

“Are you alright? That was a pretty nasty fall.” The man asked and Race looked up and _oh god he was pretty_. Race snapped back into focus.

“Oh- uh, yeah. I’m fine, thanks for asking.” He replied quickly. The two worked to collect Race’s artworks until the other man’s hand closed around a certain piece.

“Holy shit.” He mumbled. Race looked up, confused. In his hand was a piece of paper with a few small sketches on it. One was the turtle. It perfectly synced with the one on the other man’s hand.

Everything clicked for Race and his eyes went wide. 

He nearly cried from the sheer shock and surprise of the realisation.

“Holy shit.” He agreed. Both boys sat on the floor for a few moments, artwork in hand, shell shocked. The other was the first to move.

“I’m Spot.” He said. Race smiled wide.

“Race.” He said. Without thinking, Race laughed and threw his arms around Spot’s neck, hugging him as tight as he could.

It was then that Race realised what Jack meant when he talked about how safe having a soulmate feels. It was comfortable, and he never, ever wanted to leave.

Spot pulled away reluctantly, but made eye contact with Race for many moments too long. Neither boy cared.

“Do you have any more classes?” Race asked. Spot shook his head.

“Thank God. Come to my dorm.” Race replied breathlessly.

Spot agreed and pulled him close, their lips meeting passionately.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, that's what I came up with!
> 
> Kudos and feedback are GREATLY appreciated, comments make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> <3


End file.
